Show AE AC EtiOLE thiea IN OLE ACKSON GREGORY GREGORY W RELEASE THE stori SO 50 FAR ann lee and cole cody beneficiaries under two tw identical will 0 old DIU bill cole sought ought to dis cover w who bid bad fir bred edthe the fatal bullet ballet at old bill suspicion centered around ranee banco 0 n who posed as ai old DIUs nephew und and was wai living at the ranch when anns ann and 1 d cody arrived doc joe nd the jud judge g e were returning to town grons the he ranch each with a will la in his pocket for or safekeeping when they the were waylaid and shot hot by a masked bandit whom they recognized as ai rance wal dron to divert I 1 suspicion rance nance killed his accomplice tom gough cough meanwhile while cat cal rau roundtree Hound atres tree had discovered old doe doc joe still lived now continue with the story CHAPTER those were the days when ann lee remained in the big still old house she moved softly through the dim rooms the shades drawn against the glowing outside heat she trailed her fingertips along table tops along the backs of chairs she smoothed the time darkened walls with a palm of her hand 1 I love you old house she sometimes whispered when quite alone youve got your secrets you old house all sorts of memo rles ries heaps of lem em good on ones ea and bad ones too I 1 betl dear old early bill was young once here he be what was he like then old house why cant you tell me and who was sylvia did something happen to her did she die long and long ago when she was just a young girl like me and aad did young billy cole before he got to be old early BIU bill love her terribly did the love him too and was she oh so co faithful and true to him dear dead faded rose leaves of romance these were what she was finding everywhere folks thought elat they knew old early bill from the crown of his bis ragged old stetson to his spurred boot heels but they know him the way she did the way sylvia had known him when both were young 1 I love you early baill youre re an old darting darling what you arel and sometimes alone in an early morning hour or in a hushed twilight she would stand or sit very still and would whisper 1 I know you are what folks call dead early blu bill but I 1 dont believe lieve youve really gone away not ifor for one I 1 can feel you right here somewhere why youre even near enough for me to reach out and touch if only I 1 could see youl aad Is sylvia with you too to youre laughing early bill you old scamp I 1 know you arel are oh why I 1 have come sooner why I 1 have known you and it was in the patio of early mornings and in the summer magic of the long lingering twilights that ann lee and bill cole cody grew into the pleasant habit of meeting to speak little to dwell in a warm awareness of each other that was a glow like that lying about them over th the le hills and valleys sometimes they looked at each other each seeking what lay deep down in the others eyes i a little sear searching ching k their own wn hearts aunt jenifer spied on them at times from a sate safe secret distance then went her quiet way smiling thus they h had a d been sitting silting on a particular evening with even fewer words and with longer glances between them than ever before when three occurrences burst upon them with the effect effice of sudden unrelated and unexpected explosions they had heard no sound ot of footsteps so en wrapped were they in the concerns of ct their world which at the m moment was far away from their immediate surroundings as was vas the star from which the girls eyes came now so co swiftly to try to read through the shadowy hau halt light what was written on his bis face when of a sudden por for firlo stood before them don Co ditol he burst out in some tremendous excitement come quick for the love of god senor come as fast as lightn lightning no no nol not the senor ital you areto come alone you wont believe aea it I 1 cannot tell you it is a ft ienir miracle c le don Co ditol f are you drunk Por porfillo firlo snapped cody Por porfillo firlo cau caught him by the sleeve and fairly heaved him up from his place at the girls side and willy wily nilly short of a fight cody had to accompany him some few steps then porfirio began whispering in his fais ear and then cody understood and went willingly enough hurrying long eager and glad that one sequence of a tragicomedy comedy a rf farcical one at that was at an end at the darkest corner of the house bouse where a great live oak almost swept the ground with its I 1 B lower branches Vort irto brought him tc doc joe when almost immediately cole cody came rushing back to arm aim lee 40 U but breathless he be found her in the patio her slight body 0 timidly held her hands at her sides t her chin lifted her eyes on the tare start she known that be was wai really coming back at all por for arios abrupt appearance bad startled her the she was vaguely frig frightened I 1 bened and tot for come axom e reason her heart was mas pounding annl something wonderfully wonder tull full listen ann dont let it bowl you over come into the house bouse quick and pt get aunt jenifer theres there i something to tell both ot of I 1 want you itt if jut just about the most won wonderful deig news you wont be able to believe it aunt jesifers Jeni fers appearance must have smacked ot of magic there she was as they carrie came hand in hand into the lamp lighted living room he released one of anns hands bands then and took one of aunt jeni fers she saw how earnest and eager he was she said quietly all right cole its something to surprise us but ye we wont be silly about it especially since its good news we can take heaps ot of that ann and L I 1 when he told them aunt jenifer sat ant down right in the middle of the floor ann reached out and clung tight to him and seem to note that he had an arm about her then doe doc joe came in jenifer scrambled to her feet and kissed him ann lee deserted cole cody and put both arms about doc joe and gave him a mighty hug oh doe doc joel doe doc joel she kept saying over and over doe doc joe beamed all over he made them each a bow he kissed first jesifers Jeni fers ferIg hand then ann lees Ladie Lad lesl sIll he exclaimed ly his face red 1 I never thought anything could make a man so hap it would have been worth it to be dead tor for sure just to know that you cared like you dol im powerful happy and proud proud ladles ladies shucks no name for it aunt jennal cried ann lee Ll steril cut in cody doe doc joe wants us to hide him a little longer tor for only a few minutes or a fe few W hours I 1 dont know he knows a lot about ranee rance waldron hell tell you what it Is and while we cody struck the way lightning s strikes know where waldron had gone he knew and was having him watched all the time and he knows that waldron Is on his way right now to the ranch and ought to be here any minute so its up to us to get doe doc joe under cover to in a hurry then be ready tor for Wal drons coming it it my boy lit said doe doc joe hurriedly 1 I dont want any beans spilled until I 1 do the a spilling pilling get me out of sight can you ladles ladies ill try to do a mite of explaining to you while we wait and that waldron dog will be showing up in a jiffy hes not to know im alive until I 1 can up and tell him hes as good as dead Wh cherell erell we go into our rooms said aunt jenifer and started leaf leading trig the way thata the safest place then she said Shu shush 1 and all stood at attention straining their ears ear a through the silence which shut down about them they heard distinctly the thud of hoof beats not too tar far away hurry along said cole cody ill be to in the main r room if its ranee rance waldron ill find out what he wants ranee rance waldron wanted the ranch and meant to have it and already counted it as good as his to have and to hold or 01 to coin into good hard money and toss where he be liked the way the wind tosses dead leaves he knock why should he be coming home returning to his bis own place he shoved the door open and strode in Ms his thumbs were cocked into his belt his hat was tar far back on his thatch of hair his eyes were bright and arrogant as they con descended to traffic with BIN bill cole codys clodys he was wearing riding gauntlets gauntlett gaunt lets new ornate and expensive ones his hands loo looked kd white and well cared tor for the hands bands of a gambler whose fingers knew each card in the deck he drew his bis gauntlets gauntlett gaunt lets off whipped them against his leg tossed them long with his bis hat bat to the big table und nd sat eat down in the old comfortable to for chair before the fireplace SUM stin hanging around eh cody the sight of a reptile of a taran tula say gay of a rattlesnake of an any spider or snake with some men its a naked knias can move a man tremendously shooting into Ws Ms blood a turbulence which may be compounded of abb abhorrence orrene of fear of hate of sheer artl animalism malls of a tangle of complex instincts right now looking at ranee rance waldron a kotun handsome face bill cole codys clodys bloodstream was ruffled all but beyond endurance it ran cold and it ran hot and queer blazing streaks of fire like miniature 8 tabs stabs of lightning shot through him so youre still here cody are you he said curtly you know youre a tool fool cody tor for sticking around in any hope of catching any few drops that might spin spill out over the top of the bucket because it if you usten listen to me there wont be any drops spilled over it might be a good time if you tucked your tall tail between your legs and got out of here you any claim here its common knowledge told in every saloon that had some sort of a trumped up will a faked thing and that you even got that now so you can get out in a hurry mr cody am I 1 right cody swallowed he answered answered very quietly very slowly waldron if im taking a big dose of you now know why later on suppose until time comes that you keep your mouth shut h u t im not asking a lot the bre breath Is th of the thoughts you think shut up cupl waldron chose to laugh and never e r was there a man wh who 0 could put a nastier sneer into laughter which should hould be a pleasant thing and which can be detestable beyond most sounds 0 d it its hard to swallow huh cody he jeered thought you had an edge on the situation you thought id take it the way you dished it thought that it if you take it any other way he said and leered gobble it along with that nifty piece of girl meat that little cuddly pink and white female thing ann lee that a man can buy a dozen of in totor town cody struck the way lightning strikes leaping yards across the foor floor bill cole cody swung with his left hand and struck a blow tor for any hard striking man to be proud pr 0 ud ot of only ranee rance waldron there at the end of that perfect short are arc he was three or tour four quick leaps behind it it jerking out his guns and he was in high heaven with full provocation to burn his man down attacked without warning he had every right to go for his guns to kul kill his man and it would be so basyl if there were only a witness to his predicament that of a man defending himself against a murderous attack that witness he had but he knew that only later it was ann lee who had stolen a tip toe from the room in which doe doc joe and aunt jenifer two sentimental old fools were were explaining pla ining and talking two at a time and blinking against tat fat tear drops a tremulous ann lee who was wondering where a certain william cole cody william she thought that must be his real name the name his mama and papa gave e him had betaken betoken himself she heard and she saw and she nearly dropped dead hearing and seeing now as bill BIB cole cody had leaped forward and the watchful ranee rance waldron had leaped back to be out of his reach waldron fired and cody struck again aga inand and little ann tried to scream and tried to shut her eyes and could do neither in a sort of trance she saw how it was that bill cody struck not with his bis fist this time since that would have been too late but as a bullet clipped through a loose told fold of his sleeve he struck with his whole body launching himself like a long lean catapult with bullets ripping the air where he had been a split second before and as his feet left the floor and he became a sort of giants arrow in horizontal flight and his hea head a struck ranee rance waldron in the middle his bis long arms with those tremendously gripping hands of his bis grappled with the man he sent toppling end and crashing to the floor now bill cole cody miss all the bullets which swarmed about him me like angry bees two of the them M scraped him barely laid the skin back and their effect was to cause i him to lose all 11 temper which he had time to lose already there was a scratch along the top of his head and blood ran down into his left eye there was a twin scratch six or eight inches long down the back of his left shoulder ann lee saw the blood ind and thought he was surely dead and came running shed grab ranee rance Wald ions euni and shoot him all to pieces I 1 but no intercession was needed As waldron spilled back on the floor one of bis big guns flew dew out of his hands bill BIB cody though with one eye dimmed could see that the other gun swung in its brief arc to blow his brains out but codye codys hand swung quicker he caught Wal drons wrist he au but broke it in the power of his grip slowly he twisted it so that the muzzle of Wal waldron drons gun was against Wal drons temple and then bill cody spoke his bis little speech pull the trigger now waldron it U you like or drop the gun and drop it TO BE CONTINUED |